Nowadays, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have a profile on at least one social media. Have you ever heard the phrase “social media presence?” In short, it’s how you present yourself and behave online. And this also applies to companies and brands. If there’s no information about you online, you don’t exist.
According to Statista, 3.7 billion people are using social media in 2021. And this number is expected to grow to 4.41 billion by 2025. This means that if a company, for whatever reason, still does not have accounts on social networks, now is the high time to boost your social media presence. After all, the presence on social networks means increased brand awareness, more leads, and a higher conversion rate. It also allows you to build trust with your audience and better understand them.
But before you shape your social media presence, make sure you clearly understand the goals of your online presence, as well as exactly how each platform works. Don’t post something just for the sake of activity on your account. Do your research and determine what sites your target audience is on and what approach you need to take to each of those platforms. Figure out what to do after you post. And go for it! And we’ll help you do it.
Well, let’s take a look at 10 proven ways you can improve your online presence.
- Create a striking, informative, and easy-to-use profile.
- Speak to your audience.
- Get to understand your followers.
- Keep track of current news and events.
- Don’t be afraid to use hashtags.
- Create giveaways.
- Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes.
- Maintain a balance between PR and useful content.
- Grow not only your audience’s engagement but yours as well.
- Organize Q&A sessions.
1. Create a Striking, Informative, and Easy-to-Use Profile
Your profile is the backbone of your social media presence. And getting it right is incredibly important. Fill every available field with information useful to your subscribers. Briefly describe who you are and what you do in your profile bio. You can even use hashtags with your brand name and keywords to make you easier to find through search engines. For the latter, you can use Google Keyword Planner, KWFinder, and other similar services that provide you with suitable keywords.
It is reasonable to develop branding for your social media based on your company’s identity. It will also be a useful tool in boosting your social media presence. Let your designers create profile pictures and covers with your company’s logo on them. Keep in mind the size requirements of the social networks! Also, don’t forget about attractiveness — after all, visuals are the first thing your followers will pay attention to. In most cases, your profile picture determines whether the user will be interested or just pass by your brand.
If you’ve successfully completed your profile and done everything possible to make sure your potential subscribers don’t get lost and quickly find all the information they need, you’re already on your way to success! Remember: If you’ve saved a user’s time, you’ve already earned their trust. And more than that: you’ve already improved your social media presence.
2. Speak to Your Audience
Once you’ve managed to gain a sufficient audience on a particular platform, start posting not only content about your brand or team but also something that can be useful to your subscribers. For example, if your company makes cream cheese, you can post recipes in which it can be used. Or suppose you’re a clothing manufacturer. Show your audience how they can combine different items from your capsule collection.
Such publications may seem too simple and unsophisticated, but it’s a great way to boost your social media presence. That said, posting alone may not be enough. Start connecting with your audience in the comments. You can even leave call-to-actions in the posts, encouraging followers to engage in discussion about a topic. The very essence of this action is not to increase activity in your account but to create a sense of involvement with your brand for each follower.
In addition, interacting with your audience also makes your brand more human and approachable. Subsequently, it may even get your subscribers so interested that they visit your website or even become your new customers. This is how a growing social media presence generates new leads!
3. Get to Understand Your Followers
Now that you’ve started to communicate with your audience as equals, you can finally figure out exactly what they need, what they want to see, and what they really like. That way, you can create a personalized approach for a whole group of users. Analyze their needs and create a content strategy that meets them. Maybe your subscribers want to read informative reviews of new products. Maybe they want articles about the latest trends in your industry. Some of them might even want topical memes in the first place! And it’s your job to provide them before your competitors do. By doing so, you can improve your social media presence by increasing the engagement of your audience.
Also, by following this course, you can build a direct pattern in the subscriber’s mind: the company understands what I want to see. Consequently, it knows exactly what I want and what problems I have. In addition to all this, it’s also a reliable way to bring your audience from social media to your site and make them want to use your services.
4. Keep Track of Current News and Events
In today’s world, customers of companies expect much more from them than just providing services. Brands must now meet higher standards and be more flexible than ever. On the Internet, where everyone has an opinion about a particular event, brands must also develop a certain viewpoint on social phenomena and issues (or, depending on the event, the opposite). And you have to adapt your content plan and advertising quickly and flexibly as such news emerges. Some events will force you to comment on them. There will also be some that are better not only to be silent about but to suspend posting for a day or two. Contrary to the need to post regularly, such a decision will not damage your social media presence but rather will strengthen it.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Use Hashtags
Hashtags are not only a way to combine content but also a convenient way to navigate the site. You can add hashtags to posts about certain events. Then users who aren’t subscribed to your profile can see your posts and start following you. You can also create your own branded hashtags and leave call-to-actions in the posts for your audience to use in their own publications on a given topic. Both of these options are great for boosting your social media presence.
However, make sure you don’t use hashtags too often or in large quantities. Users don’t really like it when brands go overboard with hashtags. This makes the posts look unappealing, and it hurts your social media presence. Sometimes brevity is the best way out, and all it takes is one but bright and memorable hashtag.
6. Create Giveaways
Giveaways are a popular format on many social networks and are used by both large international companies and small local brands. And people love them! Not only because they get a chance to win something, but also because it requires minimal effort and zero money spent. Like the post, share it in the stories, subscribe to the company’s account and possible partners of this giveaway, and tag your friends in the comments. The winner will be determined by a randomizer, check our stories on the appointed day. Depending on the idea of your content creator, some items may be omitted.
It’s not surprising that this format is also beloved by brands: essentially, you give away one of your products, discount, or service in exchange for new potential subscribers, increased social media presence, growing activity on your page, and lots of views.
It’s also a great idea to give something to some of your loyal followers who have shown incredible loyalty to your brand in their posts. This will also show you as a very human and generous brand that appreciates its audience.
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Admit Mistakes
We are all human. And we all make mistakes in one way or another. What matters is whether we admit them and whether we are ready to apologize. In today’s fast-changing world, it’s challenging for brands to adapt to all the new realities. Naturally, sooner or later, mistakes happen for them as well. Your publication may be misunderstood, the newsletter may go to the wrong place, the strategy may not work, or the misconduct of an unscrupulous employee may make a splash online. This can happen to even the most responsible companies during the growth of their social media presence. What matters is how you react and whether you will learn a lesson from this situation for the future.
Don’t be afraid to take responsibility, and your audience will remember not the mistake itself, but what followed it.
8. Maintain a Balance Between PR and Useful Content
Remember when you used to watch your favorite show on TV and were constantly annoyed when commercials interrupted it at the most exciting place every 10 minutes? It’s the same with social media. Users don’t just want to see ads. As we defined above, they come here for specific content: funny pictures, informative news, or educational and valuable content. If you really care about your social media presence, your golden rule should be a balance between PR content and everything else. The frequency you can choose for yourself. The main thing is not to go overboard with advertising. No one will want to buy your product if you surround your subscriber with it from every angle. In addition, your posts on other topics can show the depth of your expertise and awareness of your audience’s interests. Win their trust, and they’ll want to buy your product themselves.
9. Grow Not Only Your Audience’s Engagement but Yours as Well
And again: speak to your audience. Only this time, do it directly in comments, retweets, and reposts. Increase your engagement in discussions about your publications or other users’ posts about your company. You can respond substantively. You can crack jokes. You can post memes. There’s plenty of room for creativity, which has a positive impact on your social media presence.
When you interact with your followers in this way, you make it clear that you care about them, understand them, and want to develop a long and trusting relationship with them. This is how you can form a full community of like-minded people among your audience. Some brands, for example, become popular not only because of their services but also because of the way they communicate with the public on social media. Even if you don’t use their products, you’ll appreciate the way they interact with their followers. You might even become a customer afterward!
10. Organize Q&A Sessions
We have addressed this format many times in our articles. And for a good reason! Q&A sessions are a handy, inexpensive way to boost your social media presence. And there are options here, too. You can hold a live broadcast and answer pre-collected questions from your subscribers. You can create an Instagram poll and answer each question in a separate story. There’s also an option to respond in the form of posts with a selection of questions and answers. Or you can choose one of the most popular options — have a broadcast with an expert and ask viewers to prepare questions for you that they would like to get answers to from a professional in this field. Most importantly, warn your audience in advance! This format pays off very quickly.
So, those were 10 ideas for boosting your social media presence. Leading social media can be challenging and time-consuming, but it’s always very exciting and gives you a lot of room for creativity. Sometimes it can even be fun. But what definitely can’t be questioned is that it pays off. Of course, with the right strategy, but we’ve got you covered with this one!